Once exposed, you are less likely to develop cold symptoms if you have a strong immune system. To keep your immune system in shape, try to keep a regular schedule with eight hours of sleep, a balanced diet, and exercise.  Try to keep stress levels low, and avoid alcohol and tobacco use.

Like a cold, the flu is a viral infection and there is no cure.   It is spread through person-to-person contact and through sneezing and coughing.  The flu can make people of any age ill. Most people are sick for only a few days, but some have a more serious illness that may require hospitalization.

Once a person gets the flu, not much can be done except to alleviate the symptoms. Contact Health Services at x2470 if you are unsure what to do. The best treatment is prevention by immunization. Due to the current vaccine shortage, take precautions such as frequent hand washing and getting adequate sleep to ward off illness.

Due to the vaccine shortage, who should get a flu vaccination?

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, only those in the following high risk groups should receive a flu vaccine:

• Adults and children with a chronic health condition, such as diabetes, kidney disease, asthma, cancer, HIV/AIDS or heart disease

• People who are 65 years old or older

• Children 6 to 23 months old

• Children 6 months to 18 years on chronic aspirin therapy

• Women who will be pregnant during flu season (typically November through March)

• Residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities

• Healthcare workers involved in direct patient care

• Out of home caregivers and household contacts of children younger than 6 months

Only a small number of Wesleyan students will fall into one of these categories. A limited number of vaccine doses are in stock at the Health Center and will be held for high-priority individuals.  All students with underlying chronic medical conditions, especially those that predispose them to more severe infections or that involve the lungs, should contact the Health Center at x2470 to request that a dose be reserved. 

Such diagnoses include, but are not limited to, Diabetes, Asthma which is moderately persistent or worse, and other conditions requiring therapy with immune-modulating drugs. All such students MUST contact the Health Center by noon on Thursday, October 28, 2004. If the list of requesting students exceeds the available doses, the charts of these students will be reviewed to assure their conditions meet criteria.

All faculty and staff with similar diagnoses are urged to contact their primary medical providers as soon as possible to reserve a dose of vaccine.  We regret that we do not have sufficient stock available to offer vaccinations to faculty and staff.

• Avoid close contact with others who are sick. 
• Wash your hands. Use warm water and soap, and wash for at least 15 seconds being sure to get between all your fingers. Try to wash more frequently than usual, especially when you are touching doorknobs, tables and other surfaces that infected people may have touched.  If you can't get to a sink,  use an alcohol-based hand cleaner regularly.  
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.  This is particularly important if you haven't had the chance to wash your hands.
• To keep your immune system in peak shape:
  • Get eight hours of sleep each night
  • Strive to eat more balanced meals and eat more regularly
  • Fit in regular physical activity
  • Avoid alcohol and tobacco use
  • Strive to manage your stress levels

• Avoid close contact with others. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.
• Stay home when you are sick. If possible, stay home from classes, work, meetings, and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness. It is better to stay home and rest in the first couple days you are sick than continuing to push through your illness. This will help not only with reducing the length of your illness, but also reduce the likelihood you will infect others. 
• Treat your symptoms. Unfortunately, there is no cure for the common cold or the flu.  If you treat the symptoms you are experiencing, you can lessen the severity of the illness you are experiencing. Call Health Services at x2470 to find out what is the best thing to do for your specific symptoms.
• Cover your mouth and nose. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and throw your tissues away rather than putting them in your pocket or backpack. If you don't have a tissue handy, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve rather than your hand; it will prevent germs from being transferred from your hands to any surfaces you touch. 
• Clean your hands. Washing your hands often will help protect you from the viruses that promote colds and the flu. If you don't have access to a sink, carry alcohol-based hand cleanser with you and use it often.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
• Avoid alcohol and tobacco use to prevent your illness from getting worse.

• Symptoms last longer than 10 days
• You have a severe sore throat, earache, or headache not relieved by Tylenol or ibuprofen
• You have a history of tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, kidney disease, or heart disease
• You have severe chest pain or shortness of breath
• You are coughing up thick, green or bloody sputum
• You have swollen glands or hard sore lumps on the sides or back of your neck

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